My wife, 9-month-old son and I recently flew up to Seattle on Alaska Airlines and had a great two days checking out the city and staying at the stylish Thompson Seattle. On our way back to Los Angeles, we had an encounter going through security unlike anything we’ve ever seen before…and we’ve taken over 50 flights a year for the past 10 years as a couple!
When we arrived at SeaTac Airport, we used our CLEAR membership, which allows TSA PreCheck users to essentially cut the TSA PreCheck line. There was no line but since we had just become members a few days earlier, we wanted to use it to get more familiar with it. The only problem was that the TSA PreCheck lane was actually closed. I’m assuming this was because it was 2:30pm on a Thursday and not a lot of business travelers were using it at that time. But we were given a red pass so we didn’t have to take our shoes off or go through the millimeter wave scanner, but we did have to take our laptops and liquids out. Otherwise, we just had to the walk through the metal detector.
I’m so used to not taking my liquids out with TSA PreCheck that I forgot about Jack’s oversized eczema cream that was in my bag, so it was rightly flagged. The agent first tried to tell me it wasn’t allowed because it was oversized but as soon as I told him it was my child’s cream for medical purposes and he could see this on the side of the container, he realized it had to be allowed as long as he tested it. He said, “Well, you either have to give it up or get a full-on pat-down and thorough bag check.” I said, “He needs his cream and I’m not in a hurry.”
The agent then started giving me attitude since I wasn’t in a hurry like most other travelers and I don’t think he wanted to take the time to do the pat-down and bag search. I don’t really blame him. He told me it was going to take at least five minutes, and I said it was okay and to do what he had to do. As he started patting me down, I learned my wife’s belongings were also flagged. It turns out she put the baby food in the same bin as her laptop and her agent said that was a big no-no. She gave Natalie attitude for not knowing that the baby food had to go in its own bin.
When my agent really started to go on a power trip, I tossed Natalie my phone and asked her to record my pat down. That didn’t make the agent happy. He turned his back to the camera and called for his supervisor who was a nice guy but knew I had the right to record. However, I didn’t want to be a jerk so I stopped.
Supposedly, my phone tested for some kind of chemical and set off their alarm. And because Natalie touched it and her unopened bottles of baby food tested positive too, they said they had to call in—get this—the Explosives Unit! I thought it was a joke and I was on some kind of Candid Camera show but sadly, it wasn’t.
It took the two Explosives Unit agents a few minutes to get there and I could tell that Natalie was starting to get really worried. Jack was starting to cry because he sensed her fear and he hadn’t liked seeing his mother get a pat-down. I wasn’t worried at all but Natalie later told me she was concerned because she has seen how things can escalate and because she’s brown, living in Trump’s country.
Fortunately, she was immediately put at ease by the Explosives Unit agent who really couldn’t have been any nicer and probably sensed it was a false positive when he saw us. He had everything tested and run through the X-ray again, and had our carry-on bags hand searched. The whole process took at least 30 minutes but it felt longer and I felt bad because it was such a waste of taxpayers’ money. The security line was getting really long and those who had their bags flagged had to wait for us.
My takeaways about going through security with baby food are:
- Don’t put baby food in the same bin as your laptop.
- Try not to have more than 3.4 ounces of cream but know that if it’s for medical purposes, you can have more.
- Show up to the airport extra early, just in case you get flagged.
- Be polite to the agents but if they question the amount of food or medicine you’re traveling with, ask for a supervisor. Many agents don’t know the rules but most supervisors do.
Bottom line: It was an unfortunate incident but it was a great learning experience for me. As anyone who has ever met my wife knows, she is possibly the nicest person in the world and I’m a nice guy too, but unlike my wife, I will give attitude back if provoked.
I’ve heard from my friends on Facebook (where I first posted about what happened) that SeaTac is known for having overzealous TSA agents. Do you agree? Have you ever had the Explosives Unit called in? Any other tips I should add?
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JJ, disregard the hater replies. You did nothing wrong as long as you tell the truth and be honest with yourself. If the haters don’t like what you have to say, they can switch the channel. BTW, I get singled out a number of times at TSA even though I have pre-check. I generally give the TSA folks a break because it is a thankless lousy job.
This just happened to me in the SRQ airport last month, my carry on tested positive for explosives! After a lengthy pat down the agent told me it could have been the soap I carried in my carry on bag (a bar of Dove soap!). They were very nice but it did take some time to get cleared and agree with your recommendations above.
My son and my ex-husband travel regularly. Since my son has ADHD and some sensory disorders he has to take several meds. Even though my ex-husband is a physician I still enclose my son’s physician information and med information along with dosage since I don’t send the actual bottles. That way if there is a question they can contact his physician or pharmacy to verify. It sounds crazy,but I feel like I have to think one step ahead of TSA screeners.
I was just in Seattle the beginning of June and TSA Pre-check was also shit down.
It’s definitely your right to videotape your encounter. I worked in law enforcement for 28 years and never had one complaint. I prided myself on being fair and compassionate. People only started videotaping contacts the last few years of my career. But when someone whipped out a camera and started videotaping a contact, I took it as an insult. I’m human. Immediately assuming I’m going to do something wrong that would need to be documented was something I considered as a huge dis to me and my profession. I watched many officers in these videotaped situations. The officer usual become unusually stiff, overly robotic and by the book. If you might have got off with a warning, you’d most likely get a ticket. I not saying to not videotape, just beware if you do you are likely to aggravate the situation to a some degree. In today’s anti-law enforcement society where everyone wants to videotape ever encounter I imagine officers will become accustomed to the videotaping and it won’t bother most officers.
you do want to be safe, don’t you? My gosh, you are overdone on this one.
Really you in my humble opinion are out of line. You were in Seattle hardly Trump’s country. Lost a lot of respect for you on this one. “I wasn’t worried at all but Natalie later told me she was concerned because she has seen how things can escalate and because she’s brown, living in Trump’s country.”
Read more at: https://johnnyjet.com/tsa-called-explosives-unit/
Your wife is brown and you’re in Trump country. How racist is that. You do a great job but leave politics out of your comments
I couldn’t agree more with this statement. STOP with your politics. It doesn’t serve any useful purpose!!
I’m sure Johnny and his wife know more about their experiences in this country since November than you or I do. Don’t like it? Read someone else. It’s a free country
Huh!
My wife is asian and was pulled over by cop the other day. Scared to death until she saw the cops Hillary pin. Thank god that cop wasn’t a Trumpette. I’m not sure what he would have done.
(everyone needs to get a grip and quit your whining!)
The same thing would have happened in Obama country and you know it. Security theater.
Perhaps you should try to imagine what it is like to walk in their shoes. Then imagine what it is like to be married to someone who has these types of experiences. Your attitude would change if either of these situations were a part of your daily life.
But, Johnny is correct. Little donnie has changed this country’s image, as a place that is not friendly to foreigners.
Johnny, hi! I’ve had pat downs by a LOT of TSA agents, and I gotta tell you, it depends on the person. I’ve had overzealous power trippers in many airports, and then the nicest people other times. I usually opt out if there’s no TSA line because I had a bout with cancer several years ago, and have been reduced nearly to tears a few times by their unkind attitudes. And once I had someone who practically gave me a full body rubdown she pressed so hard ALL OVER my body. Again, the good often outweighs the bad, and I’ve never had a false positive or seen the explosive units, thank goodness!! Happy flying, my friend!!
You lost me right here “I wasn’t worried at all but Natalie later told me she was concerned because she has seen how things can escalate and because she’s brown, living in Trump’s country.”
My experience with TSA in Seattle is that they are not very familiar with the TSA rules, if you show them the TSA rules they refuse to enforce them as written, and they are zealous in their enforcement of rules they make up on the spot. This is true from management on down.
Great story but you should not have stopped the filming of the pat down. Did the screener touch your or your wife’s genitals? Were you told they would be touching them?
They did touch both of ours.
A very informative article. Totally agree with you. Good work and keep it up.
Good content, too bad you had to include your wife’s concern about Trump .the president may be a jerk to you and your wife may not approve, however, I think we can all agree that he is not racist! Not liking illegals and being racist is not the same thing. Now, I am not sure that I want to continue reading your wife’s blog…wish you would both stick to travel facts, start a political blog if you have the time, but don’t insert your snarky comments unless valid.
No one ever said he was racist — except you. You can’t deny that he has created an uneasy atmosphere for minorities with his rhetoric.
Documenting the racially charged atmosphere that has been fueled under Trump as perceived by his wife in this situation is 100% valid. He was documenting an experience, and her perception is part of that experience.
Political and social climates are a part of travel everywhere in the world. You cannot separate one from the other without compromising authenticity. To ignore the political disruption in Venezuela when writing about a trip there would be absurd – it must be acknowledged to at least some extent – as it affects cultural behaviors and social norms. To ignore the atmosphere surrounding travel under a new administration, for better or worse, in the United States would also be ignoring a hugely important subtext to life in the States.
If you re-read the account, there was nothing racially charged about the incident. Two seasoned travelers were trying to test the system to see what would pass through TSA in Seattle. Anyone who travels through Seattle regularly knows that the TSA agents can be unpredictable. Liquids are a problem no matter the color of the traveler….the comment was unnecessary to tell his story. A story, which for a well traveled guy and his wife seems a little odd.
The comment involved her perception of her individual experience. Johnny is writing about their particular, unique, experience and that is part of it. As you were not there going thru the experience, there is absolutely no way for you to know if her comment was unnecessary or not. Even Johnny acknowledged that he didn’t think of it that way because he doesn’t have to (he’s not a brown woman). When you try to critique what she and Johnny feel is important to the story in this way, you are trying to discredit another person’s (two persons in this case) experience or, at the very least, diminish it in order to supply your own narrative.
Say, for example, that you are a 75 year old man and you go to a grocery store. The teenager checking you out gives you attitude which you perceive as having a lot to do with your age difference. If you include that subjective perception in your re-telling of the experience, I may say “he’s mean to everyone – it had nothing to do with your age”. Since I cannot prove that, and you cannot prove otherwise, there is no objective right or wrong. The subjective perception is what matters most and the validity of my experience (second-hand retelling) is inferior to your lived-experience (actually partaking in the experience). Had we both been present, we could talk about, debate about, etc., but it doesn’t diminish how you felt and perceived the experience either way.
tl;dr when someone tells us how they perceived an experience, we should try listening and discussing before silencing or diminishing.
Mexico is NOT a race
Well put. Also, saying “Trump’s Nation” Johnny is implying some racist overtone. To deny it just makes you look foolish.
I’d love to get more into this but I have work to do. Obviously some of these commentors have a lot of time on their hands.